Mexico incident put to bed: How did Hamilton change his tune after Thursday’s meeting?

The fallout from the incident between the Ferrari drivers in Mexico continued into the weekend in Brazil. With Charles Leclerc having to fly home for the birth of his daughter Bianca, everything had to wait until Brazil. Lewis Hamilton launched a media offensive in Mexico and continued it on Thursday in Sao Paulo, but radically changed his tone on Saturday.

The media fallout from the incident in Mexico reached an interesting, but predictable, conclusion. On Thursday afternoon, the seven-time champion continued with the fairly combative comments he had begun making in Mexico. The much-discussed private meeting with Vasseur and Leclerc did not take place until Thursday evening.

Charles, who only spoke to the media on Friday following the birth of his daughter, played down the whole affair and expressed his wish to draw a line under the incident. Frédéric Vasseur struck exactly the same tone on Friday.

The team’s wishes were therefore perfectly clear. Ferrari wanted both drivers and the entire team to put the situation to bed, which Hamilton duly did, but not until Saturday evening. “The conversation needed to happen. That was clear, and we had it. I think we cleared things up. We both expressed our views, and that brought a real sense of calm to the situation. In terms of moving forward, that conversation certainly gave us clarity. I don’t want to go into any more detail, and I have no desire to reopen something that has already dragged on for far, far too long,” said Hamilton.

He made it clear that he and Leclerc had not even needed Vasseur as a “mediator”. According to Hamilton, they had been able to talk everything through themselves. “It wasn’t a case of Fred [Vasseur] having to clear the air. Charles and I sat down, talked things through, resolved the issue and now we’re moving forward,” said Lewis.

“I think we still have a tremendous amount of respect for each other. I’m glad we had that conversation, and now we can turn the page. We get along just as well as we always have,” Hamilton assured reporters.

“Sometimes, in situations like this, all it takes is a conversation. Neither of us made any particular demands. We simply shared our perspectives and identified areas where we can improve and support one another. Hopefully, that will lead to better races for us in the future,” the seven-time champion added hopefully.

Leclerc: Of course there is tension between us

Leclerc arrived in Brazil smiling and happy following the birth of his first daughter. In front of the media, he gave the impression that nothing could spoil his happiness. He fielded every question about the fallout from Mexico with the composure of a driver who, after eight years at Ferrari, has extensive experience of internal politics and media demands.

From the very first question about the incident and the meeting with Vasseur and Hamilton, Charles played down the matter and made it clear he would not say anything rash. “From my perspective I was very straightforward of course and I think it was good to speak. I think this is always needed after a moment like this,” said Leclerc.

“I think it took proportions that are way too big, but it has been around also for way too long. At the same time it was a very special week for me so I couldn’t really have those discussions before and it was important to have those discussions, but now I consider that a closed chapter and I think it will be important to look ahead,” the Monegasque driver stressed.

He did not, however, deny that there is tension between himself and Hamilton. Claiming otherwise would probably have done little for his credibility. There is clearly a fierce rivalry between the team-mates. “Yes, of course everything is fine,” said Leclerc.

“Of course there is tension, of course we want to finish ahead of each other and sometimes we are not going to do things right, and it’s OK sometimes to disagree on the way you see things, but at the same time discussing about those helps a whole lot. Sometimes you disagree and you’ve got to find a common ground,” Leclerc admitted.